In addition to the NYU policy articulated in Responsibilities of All NYU Computer and Network Users, users of the CNS and Psychology networks must adhere to these local rules:
- You may not connect a machine to our network that you have set up yourself; shop staff must establish or verify the machine's configuration before it goes on line. Reinstallation of the operating system or a major operating system upgrade must be handled as if the machine were new.
- You may not change the network configuration of a machine once it is on line without the explicit permission of the shop staff. In particular: you may not assign or reassign your machine's IP address, or use an address assigned to one machine to connect another, or alter any network services other than file and printer sharing; personal web servers and peer-to-peer file sharing servers or clients (such as KaZaA, Morpheus, etc) are forbidden.
- You may not connect any form of router (wired or wireless) that provides additional network addresses without shop approval. You may not use a computer with more than one interface to perform router functions.
- Except for laptop computers, you may not physically move your machine from its usual registered location without informing the shop staff, and you may not prevent the shop staff from gaining physical access to your machine.
- Your machine must have an administrator-level account open to the shop staff, and you may not use, alter, disable, or prevent access to that account.
- If you have administrator privileges on your machine, you are responsible for making sure that its system security configuration is fully up to date unless you have made an explicit arrangement to have the shop staff handle that function for you. In particular, machines running Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP must have the automatic Windows Update service activated and must run Norton AntiVirus with Live Update enabled. Machines running Apple OS X must have AppleOS Software Update running automatically on a reasonable schedule.
- Faculty members are directly responsible for ensuring that these rules are observed for all machines in their offices and laboratories.
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Policy for use of the IT shop in Psychology and CNS
In recent years there has been a steady increase in demand for IT Shop staff services. This is due to substantial increases in the number of machines on the network, in the number of users, and in the complexity of security issues, particularly virus attacks. Unfortunately there has been no corresponding increase in staffing, with the result that the shop staff is seriously overstretched. We therefore restrict the tasks that users can ask the shop staff to perform.
IT SHOP FUNCTIONS
The primary functions the shop will now address are limited to:
- Installing and securing computers and networked printers on the NYU network.
- Configuring new computer operating system software, and major operating system upgrades.
- Maintaining security systems and addressing security incidents.
- Installing and configuring of major internal hardware upgrades (e.g. disk drives, memory, video cards; not external add-on devices).
- Advising users on hardware purchases (it may not be possible to provide full support for machines that are purchased without consulting the shop staff)
- Diagnosing hardware failures, and helping in the selection of appropriate sources of repair assistance.
At present, we believe that these functions will fully consume our IT staff capacity. Therefore, any other requests will only be addressed as time permits, and may not get handled in a timely fashion, or at all.
MACHINES ELIGIBLE FOR COMPUTER SUPPORT
The shop supports computers that are used for research, teaching and administration at NYU. Shop support is not available for home computers, for obsolete computers beyond the normal warranty period (typically 3 years), for laptops except those directly used for research, or for computers not owned by NYU or a related research organization. Normal commercial services should be used to support such machines.
The shop staff will refuse some other common but inappropriate requests:
- Provision, installation or configuration of commercial software.
- Printer maintenance of any kind, except networking.
- Installation and configuration of software or devices whose primary use is not for NYU-based research or teaching.
- Installation, configuration and maintenance of system software other than that listed below as supported.
- Hardware repairs that are more than trivially complex or time consuming.
The shop will continue to offer guidance to users configuring their own machines, and will prepare “how-to” documents for commonly-encountered tasks. The shop will also provide advice on commercial services available for computer maintenance and repair.
SUPPORTED CONFIGURATIONS
Windows
Microsoft Windows Vista and XP are the only supported members of the Windows family. Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME and 2000, and earlier Microsoft operating systems, are no longer supported. Machines running stable and maintenance-free configurations of earlier operating systems can remain on the network, but the only remedy available from the shop for major system problems on these machines will be an upgrade to Windows XP or Vista.
Macintosh
The shop will install and maintain recent releases of Mac OS X. OS 9 and earlier versions of Mac OS are not supported.
Unix and Linux
The shop will install and maintain current releases of Sun Solaris, SGI Irix, and Red Hat Linux.
Dual-boot Machines
Dual-boot machines represent a difficult maintenance problem, and dual boot configurations of any kind are discouraged.
Administrator Privileges
Administrator privileges on all systems must be given to the shop staff. Faculty may request administrator access to machines in their own laboratories, and give that privilege to others they designate, but systems misconfigured by inexperienced or inept administrators will in general not be diagnosed and repaired by the shop – the only remedy for such problems will be to wipe the machine and reinstall the operating system. Administrator privileges will typically not be granted to non-shop personnel on shared multi-user machines, and any such privileges that are granted will be immediately withdrawn if they are abused.
Shop Priorities
The shop's priority order for non-emergency requests is:
1. Instructional projects
2. Funded research projects
3. Unfunded projects of junior faculty
4. Unfunded projects of senior faculty
Within each category, desktop computer projects take priority over laptops. In general, laptop computer support is only available for computers used for instruction or research. Laptop support is not available for problems arising from system configuration changes made outside NYU.
Exceptions
Requests for any kind of support that falls outside the scope of this policy must not be directed to the shop staff, but to Mike Landy or Tony Movshon. The shop staff have been instructed to forward any such requests that they receive to one of us for resolution.
Tony Movshon
Mike Landy
2/27/07
ITS' Policy About Network File-Sharing of Copywrited Materials
FYI: to anyone who uses torrents or other file-sharing technologies to acquire movies, music, etc while on NYU-net:
the Chief Technology Officer of NYU recently posted a memo regarding the downloading and/or distribution of copywrited materials: The obvious point of posting the memo is to prevent lawsuits against NYU.
Here's the most important part or her memo that states that users will be held responsible for copyright infringement that occurs on NYU-Net:
"If the RIAA believes you are involved in illegal downloads or distribution of copyrighted materials and submits a valid subpoena to NYU seeking your identity, the University will comply with the subpoena and furnish your name and contact information to the RIAA's lawyers."
I'd like to add that bittorrent and file-sharing technologies rip open your computer's firewall and leave you susceptible to hacker attacks. For this reason, all file-sharing software is long against CNS/Psych's IT policy. Personally, I dont go near any of this software because of the security issues.
"What should I do?"
If you have file-sharing software installed and you never use it, you REALLY should remove it and also confirm that any reference to this software is gone from your firewall. If you actively use torrents, you should read all of ITS' memo below and use it it only your home network. If you bring a laptop to use on NYU-Net, fully disable your torrents when here. Torrents are against ITS and Shop policies.
thanks
Ken
The entire memo:
Marilyn McMillan, Associate Provost and CITO
A large percentage of people who use the Internet have downloaded music or movies. And most of the individuals who download these files—through paid services, file-sharing applications, or peer-to-peer networks—by now are aware of how prominent the issue of illegal downloading has become.
The University's stance on this issue is simple: downloading copyrighted material without permission is illegal, and you should not do it. You should also not use your computer to distribute copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder. Be aware: some applications for downloading music, movies and other files actually turn your computer into a server, allowing it to be used for distributing copyrighted material. If you are doing illegal downloads or distributions now or have done so, you should stop.
The music industry thus far has principally targeted those whose computers distribute illegally downloaded music, rather those who simply download. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is using the legal tools provided by the U. S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998. If the RIAA believes you are involved in illegal downloads or distribution of copyrighted materials and submits a valid subpoena to NYU seeking your identity, the University will comply with the subpoena and furnish your name and contact information to the RIAA's lawyers.
We know that illegal downloading of music is a widespread practice. It has become an international phenomenon, one that is hardly confined to college campuses. Its allure is clear: why would you pay for something—a song to load on your MP3 player or a movie to load on your laptop—when you can get it for free with a little exploration and few keystrokes? And why would you not share something for free with friends?
In answering those questions, the University appeals to what Abraham Lincoln once called "the better angels" of your nature and to your commitment to the culture of scholarship.
As communities of scholars and learners, research universities—such as NYU—have two primary missions: to educate students and to create knowledge. This latter mission involves the production of original scholarship and research. Accordingly it is accompanied by an enormous respect for proper recognition being given to the creator of those ideas and knowledge. In higher education, it is considered a grave act to take another's work without permission or attribution. At NYU, which also has large and renowned programs in the arts, this respect extends to the creation of new art.
Few in this community would uphold shoplifting CDs from a record store. And few would be content to see their own work—a paper, for instance, or a journal article, or a term project in a course—taken by someone else and used without permission.
Yet, in reality, that is what you do when you download copyrighted files illegally. However you may feel about the music or film industry or about their responses to piracy, when you download copyrighted files without permission, you are stealing the work of a director or a producer or an artist. It is not only wrong, it puts you at legal risk.
The Internet has brought unimaginable access to information and extraordinary flexibility and opportunities for exploration and communication. NYU wants you to take advantage of all that. But, just as you abide by certain standards of behavior for scholarship and for University life, so, too, should you abide by high standards when it comes to the intellectual property of others on the Internet.
March 2007
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